Search results for

Dean's family says he quickly fell into critical condition after being diagnosed with a MRSA bacterial infection. He is the second aviation whistleblower to die in the past three months.

Lakshmi Singh is a midday newscaster and a guest host for NPR, which she joined in 2000.

Alix Spiegel has worked on NPR's Science Desk for 10 years covering psychology and human behavior, and has reported on everything from what it's like to kill another person, to the psychology behind our use of function words like "and", "I", and "so." She began her career in 1995 as one of the founding producers of the public radio program This American Life. While there, Spiegel produced her first psychology story, which ultimately led to her focus on human behavior. It was a piece called 81 Words, and it examined the history behind the removal of homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Doualy Xaykaothao is a newscaster and reporter for NPR, based in Culver City. She returned to NPR for this role in 2018, and is responsible for writing, producing, and delivering national newscasts. She also reports on breaking news stories for NPR.

The main thing you should know about Giles Snyder is that he is an extreme commuter. He drives 90 miles from his home to the NPR newsroom, usually in the middle of the night.

As KUNC’s reporter covering the Colorado River Basin, I dig into stories that show how water issues can both unite and divide communities throughout the Western U.S. I produce feature stories for KUNC and a network of public media stations in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, California and Nevada.

Jessica Bakeman reports on K-12 and higher education for WLRN, south Florida's NPR affiliate. While new to Miami and public radio, Jessica is a seasoned journalist who has covered education policymaking and politics in three state capitals: Jackson, Miss.; Albany, N.Y.; and, most recently, Tallahassee.

Over the course of his six previous albums, starting with his debut Painted Diaries in 2009, Reza Khan has worked with some of the biggest names in contemporary jazz while developing a fascinating trademark fusion of pop, jazz, soul and world influences. His music is steeped in his international roots and status as a socially conscious musical citizen of the world. Along the way, the Bangladesh-born, NYC-based composer and guitarist has enjoyed several breakthrough hits on the Billboard Smooth Jazz chart, including his first Top Ten single “Drop of Faith” (featuring Nils) from his critically acclaimed fifth album Next Train Home and “Waiting for the Sky” from the 2021 collection Imaginary Road. Despite this airplay success, he’s always been told that the music he writes and produces is designed more for musicians to play than for the average smooth jazz listener to simply enjoy.
With Khan’s latest album, the intriguingly titled Mystical, he aims to change all that and create songs as infectious and radio friendly as they are brilliantly performed. Rather than have an overriding narrative concept, his goal was to collaborate with some familiar cohorts (Philippe Saisse, Mark Egan, David Mann, Nils) and others who could bring a fresh, magical, and yes, mystical quality to his songs. His first call was to David Mann, the veteran saxophonist who had brought great horn textures and arrangements to previous albums. He sought his production expertise, but just as importantly, felt that straight on compositional collaboration would be the ticket to unlocking this magic. Mann became an important co-writer, composer, arranger and producer for the album.
While some of the original Khan/Mann tunes like “The Falcon” and “Whispering Trees” indeed tell fascinating, poetic stories of their own, the guitarist began with a different overall vision. He co-wrote every one of the new tracks with a specific well-known genre musician in mind as a featured artist, hoping their positive replies would lead to incredible individual tracks with hit potential that could take the song in a magical/mystical direction Khan couldn’t have imagined upon writing the song.
Building off a foundation of Khan on lead guitar, Bern Schoenhardt on rhythm guitar, Mann on keys and sax, Khan’s guest list – all of whom immediately agreed to participate – includes Saisse, Nils, Jeff Lorber, Bob James, Keiko Matsui, a unique array of bassists (Egan, Jimmy Haslip, Brendan Rothwell, Mel Browne) and drummers (Gary Novak, Brian Dunne and Lionel Cordew. Because the project was recorded during the pandemic, the basic tracks were recorded at Khan’s home studio in Long Island, with Mann putting together remotely created tracks in his NYC studio.
Another unique aspect of the collection that contributes to Mystical living up to its title is the opportunity to experience new versions of three classic tracks from Reza’s early projects via Mann’s contemporary 2022 productions with new lineups of musicians – “Bahia Mama” (featuring the original vocal by Jennifer Grimm) and “Catalina’s Dream” from Painted Diaries and “Language of Love” from A Simple Plan (2011). The fact that “Language of Love” and “Catalina’s Dream” are in the cue for future single releases show that Khan’s composing style was always in the pocket, with great hit potential. He just needed Mann’s expertise behind the boards to take it to the next level.
“My goal with Mystical was to imagine a very magical album where David and I write songs together for certain individual musicians we wanted to bring to the recording,” says Khan. “Every track evolved organically until it became a very different type of conceptual album, with each tune having magical, mysterious elements. I had always composed every song by myself and I enjoyed the exciting learning curve of collaborating differently on each tune. My idea was to focus on how they could appeal broadly to fans of smooth jazz without limiting the inspiration and motivation that has driven me in the past.”


Featuring:
David Mann, sax
Mark Egan, bass
Mauricio Zottarelli, drums
Matt king, keyboards
Fernando Saci, percussions
Olivia Foschi, vocals

This week, one senator quoted the singer Meat Loaf during a committee hearing. That set off an all-out Meat Loaf quotation battle among the lawmakers.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is making the global rounds virtually, with Canada and Mexico as his first stops.